The attacker who attacked the husband of Nancy Pelosi, former Democratic leader of the United States House of Representatives, with a hammer, was sentenced on Tuesday, October 29, to life imprisonment without reduction by a California court, according to US media reports. David DePape had already been sentenced to thirty years in prison following his federal trial in May. This new sentence, which is added to the first, concludes his trial in the State of California, where he was being prosecuted for slightly different charges.
DePape became embroiled in an online conspiracy and entered the couple’s San Francisco home in October 2022, a few weeks before the US midterm elections. This Canadian carpenter, former naturist activist, had fractured Paul Pelosi’s skull, after asking: “Where is Nancy?” »
Nancy Pelosi was then the third person in the state, as speaker of the House of Representatives, and was regularly the target of conspiracy theories fueled by the far right. Mr. DePape admitted to investigators that he planned “break kneecaps” of the chosen one if he did not admit the ” lies “ from the Democratic camp. Paul Pelosi managed to alert the police, which happened at the last minute. The attack was filmed by the officers’ body camera.
No apology from the attacker
Before his new sentencing on Tuesday, DePape read a lengthy conspiracy statement, accusing in particular the US government of having itself organized the attacks of September 11, 2001, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. He also rebelled against “Magical and evil killer rituals” in the United States, according to the same newspaper. He has not apologized to the Pelosi family and his lawyers plan to appeal.
DePape’s conviction comes a week before an extremely tense presidential election between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
Last year, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland brandished his federal conviction as a warning to those considering political violence. “In democracy we vote, defend and debate to achieve the political result we want. But the promise of democracy is that we do not use violence to influence that outcome.”stated in a press release.
